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The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War: Charting the Rise and Fall of U.S. Military Emissions
How the Pentagon became the world’s largest single greenhouse gas emitter and why it’s not too late to break the link between national security and fossil fuel consumption.
The military has for years (unlike many politicians) acknowledged that climate change is real, creating conditions so extreme that some military officials fear future climate wars. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Defense—military forces and DOD agencies—is the largest single energy consumer in the United States and the world’s largest institutional greenhouse gas emitter. In this eye-opening book, Neta Crawford traces the U.S. military’s growing consumption of energy and calls for a reconceptualization of foreign policy and military doctrine. Only such a rethinking, she argues, will break the link between national security and fossil fuels.
The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War shows how the U.S. economy and military together have created a deep and long-term cycle of economic growth, fossil fuel use, and dependency. This cycle has shaped U.S. military doctrine and, over the past fifty years, has driven the mission to protect access to Persian Gulf oil. Crawford shows that even as the U.S. military acknowledged and adapted to human-caused climate change, it resisted reporting its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Examining the idea of climate change as a “threat multiplier” in national security, she argues that the United States faces more risk from climate change than from lost access to Persian Gulf oil—or from most military conflicts. The most effective way to cut military emissions, Crawford suggests provocatively, is to rethink U.S. grand strategy, which would enable the United States to reduce the size and operations of the military.
The military has for years (unlike many politicians) acknowledged that climate change is real, creating conditions so extreme that some military officials fear future climate wars. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Defense—military forces and DOD agencies—is the largest single energy consumer in the United States and the world’s largest institutional greenhouse gas emitter. In this eye-opening book, Neta Crawford traces the U.S. military’s growing consumption of energy and calls for a reconceptualization of foreign policy and military doctrine. Only such a rethinking, she argues, will break the link between national security and fossil fuels.
The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War shows how the U.S. economy and military together have created a deep and long-term cycle of economic growth, fossil fuel use, and dependency. This cycle has shaped U.S. military doctrine and, over the past fifty years, has driven the mission to protect access to Persian Gulf oil. Crawford shows that even as the U.S. military acknowledged and adapted to human-caused climate change, it resisted reporting its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Examining the idea of climate change as a “threat multiplier” in national security, she argues that the United States faces more risk from climate change than from lost access to Persian Gulf oil—or from most military conflicts. The most effective way to cut military emissions, Crawford suggests provocatively, is to rethink U.S. grand strategy, which would enable the United States to reduce the size and operations of the military.
392 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 20, 2023
Really good, thought provoking read for thinking about climate security. A few obvious errors in numbers undermine the book just a bit (most blatant example for me: p219, bottom of page, "The DOD spent at least $841 billion on those operations" - this is referring to U.S. Southwest border operations in ~2018. The total DOD budget in FY24 is $842B. The book must meant $841 million - no way the entire DOD budget went to U.S border operations!).
There was some very insightful parts (Ch 6 especially) but the book was a bit uneven / lacked integration. The first section was a long range history - good, but a bit tedious and over-detailed.
Overall, a good look at how DOD and the security community thinks about and addresses climate change (and has been since ~1980s or so) and a thought provoking look at how we may need to shift our thinking of national security and global security.
There was some very insightful parts (Ch 6 especially) but the book was a bit uneven / lacked integration. The first section was a long range history - good, but a bit tedious and over-detailed.
Overall, a good look at how DOD and the security community thinks about and addresses climate change (and has been since ~1980s or so) and a thought provoking look at how we may need to shift our thinking of national security and global security.
August 15, 2023
circular
The department of defense has not done a very good job of curbing its reliance on dirt fossil fuels there by contributing to climate change. The continued use creates an increased value ensuring the need to protect that assets. We must break the paradigm.
The department of defense has not done a very good job of curbing its reliance on dirt fossil fuels there by contributing to climate change. The continued use creates an increased value ensuring the need to protect that assets. We must break the paradigm.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews